A married couple brandished firearms at a group of protesters who marched through their upscale St. Louis neighborhood Sunday night on their way to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson.
The male homeowner stood barefoot on his Renaissance-style porch in the Central West End neighborhood while carrying a semi-automatic weapon around 6 p.m. local time, while his wife pointed a pistol at the gathering.
The couple confronted the group of about 300 protesters after they breached a gate in the neighborhood, according to a local NBC affiliate.
A video on Twitter showed the woman pointing the firearm at passing protesters while shouting.
A protester wearing a T-shirt that read, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” then urges participants to relocate into the street in an attempt to defuse the situation.
The protesters were en route to Krewson’s home to demand her resignation after she released names and addresses of residents who suggested defunding the police department, the report said.
The couple’s “Midwestern palazzo” home was featured in St. Louis Magazine in August 2018 after they completed a major renovation.
In the piece, they showed off their dome gilt ceiling and curved double staircase of marble leading to the second- and third-floor landings.
“The glass in the windows” is from the second-floor reception hall at the 14th-century Palazzo Davanzati in Florence, Italy, “and the shutters, at least the ironwork, are probably original,” the couple told the magazine.